EDITORIAL: TURKEY, ARMENIA: SIGNS OF THAW?

Arab News
Sept 5 2008
Saudi Arabia

THE divisions between neighbors Turkey and Armenia are deep and
bitter. Their common border is closed. They have no diplomatic
relations. It is, therefore, all the more significant that Turkish
President Abdullah Gul has accepted an invitation from his Armenian
opposite number to go to Armenia tomorrow to watch the Turkish and
Armenian football teams compete in a World Cup qualifier match.

While football-mad Turks will doubtless be interested in the outcome
of the game — in which Turkey has to be favorite — its diplomats will
be looking carefully at what feelers the Armenians are putting out and
whether they are seeking to normalize relations and have Ankara lift
the trade embargo, imposed as a result of Yerevan’s post-independence
dispute with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Nationalist opinion in Turkey has been outraged that Gul accepted the
Armenian invitation. There was still the outside chance last night that
his visit might not take place. But those who deplore the move are
wrong because improved relations, even at a modest diplomatic level,
could address some of the issues that most Turks find so vexing.

In particular, the Armenian insistence on branding as genocide, the
widespread killing between 1915 and 1917 of Armenian Turks as a result
of a Russian Bolshevik-inspired insurrection, rankles with every modern
Turk. Turks do not deny that many lives were lost but point out that
the slain also included Turks caught up in the rebellion. Oddly what
Turks do no point out is that there are reliable third party reports
attesting much of the killing in Eastern Ottoman Turkey was done by
Kurds, who had long been bitter rivals of the local Armenians.

Armenians are not easily going to abandon claims that have almost
become part of their national identity. But at the same time, since
independence Armenia has proved an economic basket case, not helped
by internal political rivalries and Russian interference, such as
occasionally cutting off power supplies.

A hundred years ago, Armenians, along with Greeks and Jews enjoyed
a respected place in Ottoman society. Although some ethnic Turks
resented the commercial success of their minorities, they could and
did work together successfully. Since the economic reforms 25 years
ago, Turks have proved that they too can be dynamic and successful
at business and commerce. It, therefore, makes no sense to have a
closed border with a neighbor with whom they could trade.

Nothing is going to undo the tragedies that took place among all
communities in its eastern provinces as Ottoman Turkey fought for
survival against Allied invaders. But the way this history is viewed
can be changed. Armenians need no longer major on Turkish guilt while
Turks should no longer have to bridle at allegations of genocide. The
accusations of history are sterile. The modern world is where both
countries are living and that demands healthy diplomatic and trade
relations. If tomorrow’s football match were to be the start of an
inevitably long and difficult rapprochement, then Turks, Armenians
and the wider region would all ultimately benefit.